12 Facts About Saturn V Rocket

Saturn V was a multi-stage liquid fuel rocket used by NASA for Apollo missions and later on Skylab. The rocket was in use between 1967 and 1973 and was the most powerful rocket of the Saturn missile family.

On November 9, 1967, the first American Saturn V missile was launched… It was the most powerful, largest, most rugged, and highest-carrying missile ever in operational status.

The mission of launching the first Saturn V missile was called Apollo 4 and was without a human crew. The missile test has gone without any problems, so the mission was considered a success.

Later, for another few years, 12 more Saturn V rocket were launched, so 13 launches were completed.

We bring you 10 interesting facts about the Saturn V rocket …

Fact: Saturn V was launched 13 times out of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida without loss of crew or cargo.

Fact: It holds a record of the most heavy load and the maximum load capacity of 140,000 kg (310,000 lb) for the Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which included the third level of missile and unburned fuel needed to send the Apollo command / service module and lunar module to the moon .

Fact: Saturn V, was designed under the guidance of Werner von Braun and Arthur Rudolph in the Marshall Space Flight in Huntsville, Alabama, with Boeing, North American Air Force, Douglas and IBM as the leading contractors.

Fact: To this day, Saturn V remains the only launch vehicle for missions to launch people outside the low orbit of the Earth. A total of 15 vehicles were built that are capable of flying, but only 13 of them were flown. Of these 13 flights, two were trials, 10 carried a human crew (1 in Earth orbit, and 9 on the Moon), while one was used to launch Skylab. The two unused Saturn V rocktes found their place in the museums.

Fact: The origin of the Saturn V rocket begins with the addition of Werner von Braun along with about seven hundred German rocket engineers and technicians in the United States in Operation Paperclip, a program approved by President Truman in August 1946. Von Braun was placed in the military design division because of his previous direct involvement in creating a V-2 missile. Between 1945 and 1958 his work was limited to the transfer of ideas and methods of making V-2.

Fact: The design of the Saturn V comes from a Jupiter missile design. As the success of the Jupiter series became apparent, the Saturn series appeared.

Fact: With the Apollo Space Capsule on top, it was 111 meters / 364 ft tall and without a stabilizer was 10 meters / 33 ft in diameter. Fully fueled, the Saturn V had a weight of 2,950 tons and had a load-carrying capacity in a low Earth’s orbit, originally estimated at 118,000 kg / 260,000 pounds, but designed to ship at least 41,000 Kg / 90,000 pounds to Moon. Later upgrades increased this capacity…

Fact: Saturn V was 18 meters / 59 ft taller than the Statue of Liberty and 15 meters / 49 ft taller than Big Ben, but more than twice lower than Eiffel Tower.

Fact: Saturn V used powerful new F-1 and J-2 rockets to thrust. When tested, they smashed the windows of the nearby houses.

Fact: Saturn V carried all the Apollo lunar missions. All Saturn V missions were launched from Launch Complex 39 at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After the missile passed the launch tower, the flight control was transferred to Houston, Texas.

Fact: The average mission used the rocket for only 20 minutes. Although Apollo 6 experienced three engine malfunctions, built-in computers have been able to fix it by using the remaining engines for to reach a parking orbit. All the launch of the Saturn V missile went without losing load.

Fact: Completely filled with fuel, the Saturn V that would explode on the ramp would free up the equivalent of two kilotons of TNT energy. For comparisson, the Little Boy atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, exploded with an energy of about 15 kilotons of TNT energy.